The present invention relates to a data display radio pager having a liquid crystal display (LCD) provided with a backlight and, more particularly, to a data display radio pager having a miniature configuration.
A data display radio pager having an LCD for displaying a message is extensively used today. The LCD is usually provided with a backlight which allows the user of the pager to see the LCD in the dark. Specifically, when the user operates a button switch provided on the casing of the pager, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are turned on to illuminate the LCD, so as to provide a backlight. Such backlight LEDs are also turned on when, for example, the power switch of the pager is turned on or when a call is received by the pager. In many cases, the backlight LEDs emit yellow-green light which brightly illuminates the LCD for easy recognition of messages displayed thereon. On the other hand, it has been customary to provide this kind of pager with alert LEDs in addition to the backlight LEDs. When the power switch of the pager is turned on or when a paging signal is received by the pager, the alert LEDs are turned on to inform the user of such a condition. The alert LEDs emit red light or similar striking light.
The problem with the conventional data display radio pager is that the alert LEDs, provided in addition to the backlight LEDs, have to be arranged on the surface of the pager together with the LCD. Specifically, the LCD for message display has a large area and has to be positioned on the front of the casing of the pager in order to facilitate recognition. Therefore, it is necessary to locate the alert LEDs next to the LCD on the front of the pager casing or on one side of the pager casing. For example, a radio pager having alert LEDs located next to a message display LCD is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 62-198735.
However, locating the alert LEDs next to the LCD on the front of the pager casing is undesirable for the following reason. In a card type pager available today, which is extremely thin and small, the LCD occupies a substantial area on the front of the pager casing. Hence, the alert LEDs cannot be positioned next to the LCD unless the front area of the casing, i.e., the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the pager are increased, which prevents miniaturization of the pager. On the other hand, when the alert LEDs are mounted on one side of the pager casing, they are difficult to see and, therefore, apt to cause the user to overlook an alert signal.